Homeschool Thursday: How to make a song

A collection of far too many photos depicting some schooly and unschooly learning from the past couple of weeks..... 

Last summer a friend and I planned that our families would gather once a month or so throughout the year for our kids to present research projects to a small, familiar group, over dinner.  The request came from her girls who were new to homeschooling, and said they would miss the research projects and presentations they had been doing at their Montessori school.  It hasn't worked out as regularly as we hoped, but Juniper did finish her Blue Jay project a few weeks ago, and was excited, though a bit nervous to share her work with our friends.  

This was her first experience presenting something to a group, and it was so fun to get to see her in that role.  She was clear and loud in her presentation, and remembered to look at the audience as she presented the information.  The other kids were patient and respectful, and asked questions about blue jays at the end. 

Kale was not to be left out.  He brought along his favorite book, a small collection of jokes and limericks (which he has memorized) and "read" through the book with great animation and appropriate timing.  It was a hoot.  He repeated his performance the following week on stage in front of our homeschool group (of about 40 people) during a potluck/coffee house.  He's already planning his presentation for the next one; either a group collaboration of his second favorite book, "Borrowed Black", or a solo performance of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" from Frozen.  (Our kids are crazy about the music from this film).   

We'll definitely be continuing with this tradition of presenting formal projects and may even branch out and include other friends and relatives to get more practice at public speaking. 

We continue to work regularly with RightStart Math.  I have liked this program from the beginning, and is the only curriculum we have stuck to throughout the years. (am I starting to sound like a commercial?  I swear I'm receiving no sponsorship--but maybe I should look into it!)  Kale is working on very early visual math, recognizing groups of 5 and 5+ numbers--when he wants to.  I would never push school work with kids this young.  For older kids RightStart introduces new concepts, but continues to emphasize practice of older skills as well.  So, while she's working on multiplication some days, she's also still building and adding 4 digit numbers in her head and on the abacus.  The other day I realized she had never done any graphing, so we took a 1/2 hour in the morning to graph all the measurements Kale was busy taking around the house (he's really into the tape measure right now).  She still wanted to do more, so we moved onto pie charts and line graphs.  When it was time to go to piano she cried because she hadn't had time to finish her line graph.  I guess we'll be doing more of that soon, and maybe we can figure out how to incorporate graphs into her next research project.   

In history we are slowly working through Story of the World, Ancient Times.  Kale loves the coloring activities.  Here he is in a tiger mask from ancient India.  We are also using history to introduce some geography lessons.  We keep the atlas and globe handy, and start at Maine when reading about any other country, and travel by finger over to that country, while naming the continents on the way.  

Kale isn't so interested in this, but Juniper enjoys it.  

As I've mentioned before, "school" work takes up only a small part of about 4 days each week.  Otherwise there's all kinds of good stuff going on without me.  Last week Juniper decided to put together an activity book as a gift for a friend.  It includes a coloring/cutting page, learn to draw pages, and this page on "How to make a Song".  The book required more writing than I had asked her to do in the past week, and she did it all on her own accord, asking only for spelling advice.  I love it.  

Wylie picked up on her enthusiasm, and got right to work on his own paper work, a DIY inspired project in which Juniper could complete certain tasks to earn her "bookmaking badge".  He sewed the badge himself with some scrap felt.  

Another day involved disassembling a remote control car and mounting his iPod to the top to take videos as it drove.  Pretty fun.  (Don't worry Mimi, the car still works fine--even better depending on who you ask).  

This guy, who I call Hank, was an out of the blue gift I couldn't resist.  Some friends had received this puzzle for a Christmas gift, and when we played with it at their house I knew I had to order one for another little friend whose birthday was approaching--and get another one for ourselves.  We ordered him on Amazon, but I think some toy stores carry him too.  He comes with a great booklet that tells about all his parts, and he can completely disassemble/reassemble.  Our friends have a brain model too.  Also super cool.  We haven't done a formal Anatomy study since Wylie was very small, but Juniper took a class with our homeschool group recently. Hank however, has inspired a few "know your body" videos (by Wylie and Juni) and we are all learning a lot from just hanging around with him.  

What day is complete without a bit of Hula?

The dramatic play around here has been non-stop and over the top ridiculous.  Juniper and Kale spend half the day in their underwear pretending to be "pinchampeez" (as Kale calls it).  Then they are cannibal kings (don't ask), followed orphans, veterinarians, and some game that involves walking in the snow in their socks.

Playmobil guys continue to be a staple in most play.  I love them because they are so willing to be a part of any game, be it Jenga blocks built into a tree fort, parachuting with handkerchiefs, a skate/surf club with shape sorter blocks or sailing in the bath tub.  These little guys are so versatile and cooperative.  And they always have a smile on their faces.

This was Juniper and Kale's handiwork.  

If this doesn't make you sing, I don't know what will.

Homeschooling Thursday....schooly stuff we're doing

I've been a bit remiss in the documenting of our school type work around here--so bear with me while I unload a bunch of detail for my own personal record keeping.... it always helps me take the time to record it when I feel accountable to all of you.  Hope you don't feel too used.

With Wylie trying school this semester our days have changed quite a bit as you can imagine.  Juniper requested that we focus on two subjects a day, for longer amounts of time--rather than the 3-4 subjects we'd been doing.  So, Monday and Thursday we do math and history, Wednesday and Friday we do literature, spelling, and usually some project work. Tuesdays is our homeschool coop day, this session Juniper is taking a class in both Anatomy and Physics, so we're not really looking at science right now at home.   All of this of course is subject to any amount of tweaking and variation, which happens more often than not, but its nice to have an overall plan as a guide.  In general we spend approximately 1.5 hours total on focused school work per week day.  More some days, less others, depending on our social schedule and the weather.  

Math:

Typically when Juni and I do math together Kale plays by himself, or sits on my lap and is all kinds of distracting.  But, more and more he has been asking for his own math, so I dug out our RightStart, and home made manipulatives from when the big kids were this age and we've started some very short, game and song centered math work.  The "Shut the Box" game I picked up at a 2nd hand store has been a huge hit with the whole family, and is a great way to work on simple mental addition and number recognition.  

Juniper and Wylie are both working to memorize multiplication tables (Wylie for homework), Juni on her own, though she is also working through RightStart book C.  In general I value understanding the process and knowing how to apply it over rote memorization, though memorizing  is something I have encouraged Wylie to do for the sake of practicality (he's been doing multiplication for years, but never has memorized the tables and is now feeling like he must, for school.)  It's interesting to see Wy and Juni's different learning styles as they approach the memorization process.

    favorite early math tools...

History:

Before Wylie decided to try school I had prepared to start Story of the World part 3, Early Modern Times, as well as continuing our readings about colonial America.  But, since Wylie will likely be home for next fall I decided to wait on that--and instead we're going back over Ancient Times (SOW book 1).  Juniper was only 4 when we first read this book and did the activities, so it's fitting that we do it again, and this time Kale gets to hear the stories.  We do about 2 chapters a week, along with the map and coloring pages from the activity book.  We also look for picture books from the library supporting the stories we read from SOW.  

So far the kids haven't shown a particular interest in any one subject in Ancient history, so we haven't delved deeply into any history inspired projects, but just briefly cover the chapters until something jumps out at them. 

More and more often we've been able to incorporate friends into the work we do.  When the kids were younger any social time became instant play, but its nice to see the collaborative work/play that is developing during play dates these days, whether it be history activities that are parent directed, but become part of the continuing game, or child directed and produced movies and plays that take hours to complete.  Its a new dimension of play here, and its pretty sweet.  

Exploring hieroglyphs and cuneiforms (the first writing) with friends...

Reading and Writing:
Wylie has been reading so much these days.  I've had faith that despite his coming to reading late, that he would eventually become an avid, natural reader.  So far this seems to be the case.  A year ago he was struggling through easy reader books, and now finishes short chapter books in a week or so.  He reads aloud with inflection and mostly appropriate timing.  I don't get the impression that he's reading much at school, but certainly having to do 20 minutes of reading each night for homework is helping him improve quickly.  Juniper is following in his example, and enjoys reading to herself early in the morning before we are up.  She also reads to Kale throughout the day, and Kale will tell anyone about how well he reads (he doesn't officially, but man can that kid memorize).  I'm excited for the changes in project work that (I anticipate) will develop around here with 2 kids reading on their own.
Wylie is writing more than ever before (though not enjoying it anymore than usual) at school.  Juniper continues to write daily narrations of whatever we're reading, either history or our read aloud book, as well as working independently through a cursive writing workbook. We do formal spelling work 1-2 times per week.

Art:  

Juniper still spends a good part of everyday on some kind of art work, whether making board games for friends, birthday gifts, paper dolls, or just drawing.  We occasionally attend Open Studio at Sweet Tree Arts in Hope--if you're local check it out! But I also try to always have interesting materials on hand here for impromptu projects (a bit about our puppets coming soon).   Both big kids are still working on music (piano for Juni, flute and voice for Wy).  He's taking a break from formal lessons for a bit while adjusting to the school schedule, but the two of them each have been incorporating music into their movie making ventures, and have had some self-directed jam sessions that make me smile to no end.  I love that they are feeling a mastery of their musical skills enough to branch out and play with their songs.  

While not at school, or doing homework (man school takes a lot of time!) Wylie has been diving into movie making.  We borrowed some editing software from a friend and he's been experimenting with "green sheeting", other editing, musical effects etc.  I haven't had much luck loading his videos here, but I'll try again.  

  

Whew, hope that wasn't too boring.  

I'll leave you with a happy vignette from last week.  Wylie was making pop corn, but then wished aloud that he could watch the kernels as they popped. Suddenly he remembered an old piece of thick glass from a photocopier he once disassembled.  He dug it out of the depths of his work bench where it had been stashed for years, and used it as a viewing lid  to watch the kernels pop away (though the steam made it a bit foggy). One of my fears for him in school is that his creativity and joy of learning may be squelched.   It is reassuring to see Wyguy's ingenuity and creativity shine through even after the rigors (or boredom, or both) of a long school week.

    Observation Popper in action

Woods Magic

We've just finished reading "Wildwood" by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis.  It took us a ridiculous amount of time, given that is 576 pages and we read it only at bedtime, every other night, (Rob reads a different book with them on his nights).  I think it is safe to say we all loved it.  I especially loved it, and it was hard for me not to take it to bed myself after the kids had gone to sleep.  It will definitely be a book we purchase to keep, and I've just learned there are two more in the series of Wildwood Chronicles.  I can't wait!  The book was full of woods magic and fantasy, but with a modern world twist, and in a fairy tale manner different from Harry Potter or other recent fantasy books I've read.  It was a bit dark in places and has a long battle scene, but was not so gruesome that I regretted reading it with a 4 year old nearby.  He does have a thing for dark stories and can handle more drama than most 4 yr. olds, so I wouldn't really recommend it for preschooler--but was fantastic for Wylie and Juni.  Also, it is written by the lead singer of the Decemberists, who rock--so we knew it would be good.   

* Since writing this two days ago Juni has had one scary dream that seems directly related to this book.  I still stand by the recommendation though.  And, I forgot to mention three of the most awesome things about this book:  the protagonist is a girl, her parents are neither wicked, nor dead (why do they always have to kick of the parents?) and the illustrations alone make it worth reading.  Check it out.  If your kids are too young, read it yourself.   

On Wednesday we had a bit of woods magic ourselves.  On a walk through the woods to the neighbors field for sledding (its pretty flat, so is only fun when there's a good crust, and a hefty push) we found a decomposing blue jay. This was magical not because we delight in rotting flesh--the parts of the skeleton visible were pretty cool--but because Juniper is just finishing up a research project on blue jays and had been wanting some feathers.  

Then, feet a way from the jay, we found a dropped antler.  It is a beautiful 4 point (I've since learned) and must have come from a healthy, large buck.  We searched for the matching one but didn't find it.  I guess deer rarely drop two antlers at once, but we'll go back later this week to see if perhaps he's lost the other since.  

Later that afternoon we were driving to a friends when an owl flew across an open field--directly into our car.  I could see it coming, but since it was coming from the side I couldn't stop or swerve to avoid him.  The smack was loud and I was instantly sick with the thought of having killed the owl.  This is the second owl to have flown into a car I've been in.  

Fortunately we stopped and found the owl sitting upright in the road.  As I approached to help him off the road he hopped, spread his wings, and flew to the edge of the road.  A few minutes later he flew again, farther this time, taking shelter under some small pines.  Amazingly, thankfully, he seemed unhurt.  It was magical to get to see him up so close, and to watch him fly off after the incident.  And, a friendly stranger with a camera happened to stop as well, and sent us this lovely picture of him.  

   photo by our roadside stranger

New Years Resolution (a little early)

Wylie has been investigating the idea of public school ( I wrote a little about it a few weeks ago.)  While no decisions have been made yet, it's led me to do a lot of thinking (and some panicking, if we're being honest).  But also, a lot of questioning.  The quiet, in my head, late night, self-doubt questioning that tends to happen when a large part of how you've defined your life is suddenly suspect to change.  Over the past five years of homeschooling I've been (mostly) confident that our relaxed, mainly child-led homeschooling is what's best for our kids and our family.  I've stood by my gut feeling to not force reading before they are ready, to allow lots of time for imaginative play, creative self expression, and to allow the kids a large say in the scheduling and follow through of their responsibilities.  I still feel like those choices were good ones-- most of the time.

But damn, there's nothing like a school official evaluating your child to make you doubt all the teaching and guidance you've done over the past 6 years (10 if you're counting from birth).  Even when those officials are kind and understanding, and seem to respect homeschooling choices.  I feel this huge judgement being thrust on me, and suddenly feel fully responsible for what my child knows (and doesn't).  Do teachers feel that same sense of responsibility for thier students' knowledge and performance?  I'm sure to some degree, but I'll bet its different.  I find myself being (quietly) critical of what he hasn't worked on enough, blaming him (never aloud) for not focussing on it, and myself for not pushing him harder to work on his weeker skills.  I've been feeling like a failure for not pushing enough, not being structured enough, and feeling disappointed in my kid for his weaknesses instread of celebrating his strengths.  

And it sucks, because the reality is, that's the whole reason why we chose not to send our kids to school.  So they could revel in the skills they do have, learn what they need to at thier own pace, and keep the passion for learning and discovery they had as toddlers.  So they can grow up to be curious, life long lovers of learning (oh the alliteration!) who are happy about themselves and with the choices they make.  

I'm kinda done with the whole self-doubt bit.  So here's what I'm choosing to think about instead:

We can want all kinds of things for our kids.  And, we can plan what we will give them (materially and figuratively) and envision what they will make of it.  But the reality is that they are each who they are, and will become what the will.  If that is not what we envisioned we can force them.  We can shame them into trying harder to be who we want.  We may even make them what we want, but surely at a cost.
Or, we can choose to celebrate who they are, right now.  Maybe they are not strong readers.  Maybe they are not people who enjoy crafting.  Maybe they are not athletic, mathematical, musical, funny, compassionate, good writers, lovers of animals,  _____ (fill in the blank), maybe not.  But surely they are original.  Surely they are each the sweet babes we held in our arms, carried on our backs, fed and clothed and bathed.  Surely they are the same souls that stared into our eyes unblinking as we cradled them in their first moments with us.

Our choices and opportunities in our society seem nearly limitless, it can be overwhelming.  But if we treat ourselves kindly by limitting choices (as we did for our toddlers) we can make it easier on ourselves.  Because in the end there are really only two choices.  We can choose to be happy, or not.  And if we are happy with them, then it seems more likely they will be happy with themselves.  And isn't that really what we all want for our children in the end.  Despite all of our hopes for success, a fulfilling career, healthy relationships, etc.  Isn't what we are really trying to say is, "I hope you are truly happy in your life". ?  I think so.  And shouldn't it start right now?  After all, childhood is just as much a part of their lives as adulthood.

So, my New Year's resolution for this year, is to choose to be happy.  To be thrilled with who each of my children is in his/her entirety.  It will not make them who I want.  It will not make each day easier (maybe a little?) But surely it will grow happier people. Which is really what the world needs.

November Days

This morning we awoke to the first snow of the season.  It was met with the expected first snow glee--requiring an underwear dance on the deck (a little tradition I began in college) and a snow-suited foray into the semi-dark morning.  The mitten situation shed a bit of reality on the season to come (has there ever been a 4 year old who enjoys mittens?) but I was doing my best to persevere with my joy.   As I get older I have been appreciating more and more the differences of each season, and very much so the subtle beauty of the starkness of early winter.  The simple act of fetching wood from the porch inspires a photograph.   

November is raw, but real.  She's hiding nothing.  

The snow quietly settling on the frozen grass and the wood stove sparking to life was calling me to stay home for a quiet day.  But, today is Tuesday.  Which means homeschool coop--a raucous, wonderful crowd of nearly 100! homeschoolers (including parents and babies) packed into our rental space for the better part of the day, which we divide into 3 sessions with several classes each session.  It is amazing, sometimes exhilarating, and always exhausting.  My quiet day didn't happen.  Of course the kids had a great time rolling in the snow down Belfast Common, snow ball fighting, and eating snow with their friends (never mind all of the crafting, physics, ecology, research, and space studies going on).  The playdate extended into the afternoon, as friends joined us at home, and sleds were pulled from the barn rafters and hauled around the dark yard by headlamp.  

Its all good, and seems to be the way of November.  Crammed between Halloween and Thanksgiving, the time of year when all things non-holiday get scheduled, and pre-holiday preparations are already in the works.  Early last week Rob and I didn't see each other at all for more than 10 minutes (discounting sleep) over a stretch of 3 days.  As a family we've been soaking up bits of quiet time whenever the opportunity arises:  late morning solo art projects before swim, quick games of cards after lunch,  late afternoon tree sitting just for quiet (she even took her nature journal up there--love that!) projects on the brain that beg to be squeezed in between errands and lessons (Juniper's honey drops--a recipe she made herself and gifted to her piano teacher); sand play indoors, and yes, a bit of school work as well.  Lately our schedule has been loose, but good, with many late afternoon impromptu reading sessions or math work, and early morning risers who get right to work on their own, self created reading, writing and film projects.  Despite my attempts at direction we seem to be dispersing at low tide, heading about our personal explorations.  Its all busy and sweet and good.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Floor Work

With the completion of our fantastic kitchen island, we now may officially have more horizontal work surfaces than may seem reasonable in a house this size (can you ever really have too much work space?). Even so, the favorite place to work remains the floor. Go figure.  

There's a reason its concrete.  

 

Fiddler On The Roof (and a new kitchen island!)

The big kids and I went to see "Fiddler on the Roof" at the Waterville Opera House with our homeschool group last weekend.  The show was very well done, and despite being a little long we all enjoyed it.  I'd seen the show once before, in high school I think, and remembered just a little about it.  What surprised me is that I either hadn't realized (or I'd forgotten) that the fiddler is only a metaphor for the lives of the people of their village, precariously balancing tradition and changing culture and surviving against the odds.  Somewhere in my adolescent brain I'd seen it as an actual trade in their town, albeit a risky one.  

The past few weeks I've been feeling like my own life is a bit like that fiddler.  Of course my struggles don't even begin to compare to those of Tevye's family as they face anti-semitism, extreme poverty, and an angry Czar who drives them from their village. There's nothing like refugees to put your life into perspective.  

Perpective aside though, my struggles have felt real to me--and its been a rough few weeks.  Monday's post of cheery, homeschool love and excitement was pre-written (two weeks ago), and while heartfelt and honest at the time of writing felt fairly like lying based on my present state of mind.  I've been dealing with some minor conflict in a couple of different areas of my life, which came to head just as two fairly large, long planned for projects were beginning with some other groups (one of them is a fantastic community build with Window Dressers organization to help keep our neighbors warm, reduce heating costs, and cut down on CO2 emmissions.  Check it out.) In the midst of these deadlines and commitments, trying to appropriately deal with conflict and meanwhile trying hard to stick to our homeschool schedule, Wylie announced, which quickly progressed to pestering, that he'd like to try public school.  For many of you, particularly those of you with kids in school this probably seems unoffensive, and rather normal.  Even so, to me his request felt like a sock in the gut.  I can't verbalize exactly why.  It didn't feel like an insult as some have suggested.  I know his curiosity well and can see where he's coming from.  But, it put me in an instant state of panic and unrest.  I'm still part way there.  

So, in the past week we have explored the local school, he has tried out the classroom and enjoyed it, though is not ready to make any kind of commitment.  He's not sure really what he's wanting from school, and I'm not sure that what he's looking for is really what he'll find there.  I feel like Tevye from fiddler, balancing pros and cons...  "On the one hand we didn't decide to homeschool him on a whim..."On the other hand, how much harm can come from 4th grade?  On the other hand.....   

As parents the decisions we make about and for our children are never easy.  But, when they were babies I always seemed to know in my gut what was right.  Now that they're older they have so many of their own opinions and feelings to add to each decision there's not just my own gut to consider.  At what point and with what risks do we decide to trust their instincts against our own?  

There are a few necessary steps to be taken before we can pursue the idea of school further, and Wylie is not sure what he wants to do from here.  I'm taking it slowly and trying to keep it all in perspective.  He's not moving to Siberia with his rebel partner, and none of us are facing an angry Czar.  So its mostly good, despite my angst.  

At the end of the play, refugees on stage, huddled against cotton snow flakes, struggling to carry all of their belongings as they are being displaced, Juniper turned to me and said flatly, "That was a sad ending".  Yup.  

I'm not sure how my little struggle will end, but I'm sure it will be better than theirs'.  

And, in the meantime, we have this amazing new kitchen island!  

Three cheers to Grampy, who is always up for a project when he visits, and is willing to work for chicken soup and BudLight.  And, to Rob who is almost always willing to agree to my design inspirations (despite his initial doubt) and who tackles any project with the mind to finish it before the weekend is out.  

We left for the play with the three of them, Grampy, Kale, and Rob, mulling over my design and working out the numbers.  We came home to a nearly finished piece, ready for me to sand and oil.  After 4 coats of mineral oil we've begun using it gently, but I'd still like to get another few coats on before we really get down to business on this beauty.  This new island has a proper overhang so the kids can eat without dropping food all over themselves, space for all three kids at once, and a cupboard on the end for storing our favorite school resources right near the table--where they get the most use.  We made the top and sides of birch plywood so they finished smooth and sleek, but should still be fairly rugged, and for 1/3 the price of butcher block.  I love it.  

Below pics from all sides, plus what happens when they all notice I'm taking pictures of them....